Why upgrade to Blu-ray when the old DVD player still manages to churn out a pretty good picture?
That was one of the issues addressed by the Blu-ray Disc Association at the IFA 2008 electronics trade show in Berlin.
High Definition TV News
The IFA consumer and trade fair got underway today with the opening focus very much on flat screen TVs.
Launching the event with a decidedly European spin – well it is in Berlin – much was made of strong consumer confidence despite reports to the contrary.
.jpg)
Satellite and cable providers on both sides of the Atlantic have recently claimed they are offering full HD – or 1080p – programming.
The Blu-ray Disc Association is objecting to these claims of equality, suggesting the comparisons are irresponsible and misleading, and says it will take “appropriate action”.
Dish Network is claiming a pay-TV industry first with its announcement that it is to transmit all standard and HDTV programming in the MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding Standard.
Always keen to stress any competitive advantage over its rivals, the satellite provider asserts this is just the latest in a series of market-leading offerings.
A new partnership to create what has been called the “Widget Channel” has been announced by Yahoo and Intel.
The pair want to build support into HDTVs that embed Web-enabled “channels” that run alongside TV shows.
Samsung is the leading global TV brand in revenue terms for the tenth straight quarter, expanding its market share to a record 22.8 per cent.
North America enjoyed strong Q2 TV shipments growth in Q2, helping global TV shipments to improve by 11 per cent Y/Y to 47.5M units.
Blu-ray Disc drives installed on PCs are expected to help “convert” more consumers to the format, with growth forecast at 117 per cent annually through 2013.
According to the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a report from IMS Research shows that non-broadcast HD video households are expected to increase 90 per cent annually through 2013, reaching 38 million homes worldwide.
Demand for consumer electronics in the Asian market is growing strongly despite reports of a gloomy economic outlook, according to research company GfK.
Its Pan Asia Consumer Electronics Data Summary shows a retail spend of approximately US$ 11.5 Billion dollars in the first half of 2008, which is an increase of 13 per cent year on year.
Sport is proving to be a great catalyst in expanding the availability of HD coverage around the world.
NBC’s impressive US viewing figures for its coverage of the Olympics are in no small part down to the fact that for the first time the Games are being shown entirely in high def.
Now Arqiva has announced it has upgraded Sky’s coverage of key international speedway events to HD.
Microsoft has announced that it is the first operating system developer to more completely incorporate Blu-ray support into its platform, with the addition of the Windows Feature Pack for Storage.
This will allow Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003 and Server 2008 users to burn Blu-ray discs directly from the OS without the need for usually expensive third party applications.